DeSmith, ’Cats stone Huskies

Saturday

Feb 2, 2013 at 3:15 AM

By AL PIKEapike@fosters.com

BOSTON — Casey DeSmith made a season-high 47 saves and the University of New Hampshire hockey team snapped a long scoreless drought at Matthews Arena as the Wildcats defeated Northeastern, 3-1, Friday night.

Grayson Downing and Eric Knodel scored 44 seconds apart in the second period and John Henrion added a power-play goal early in the third for UNH, which never trailed.

Downing’s goal early in the second ended a scoreless stretch of 150 minutes and 29 seconds for the Wildcats at Matthews Arena.

They had been shut out in their last two appearances there.

With its second straight victory, No.3/4 UNH improved to 16-6-2 overall and 11-5-1 in Hockey East.

Knodel’s goal stood up as the game winner and Henrion’s power-play tally early in the third gave the Wildcats and DeSmith some insurance. Kevin Goumas finished with two assists.

After missing his first start last Friday since taking over the No. 1 goaltending job midway through last season, DeSmith has been sharp. He’s made 82 saves on 85 shots in the last two games, wins over Merrimack and Northeastern.

DeSmith had to work for his scholarship Friday, particularly in the third period when the Wildcats had to kill three penalties and spent the final 1:37 of the game two men down after the Huskies pulled goalie Chris Rawlings.

Northeastern outshot UNH, 48-27, including 15-6 in the third.

“Obviously (DeSmith) had a great first half,” Umile said. “The team was inconsistent. It wasn’t his doing. Casey is back playing well. He’s done that the past couple games and the team is battling hard in front of him and trying to keep the Grade A shots to a minimum.”

DeSmith had been pulled in two of his previous three starts before sitting out last Friday’s game against Merrimack.

“It’s always good when you’re winning,” DeSmith said. “Sometimes you have rough games and you have to be able to bounce back. … I don’t like losing any more than the next guy so it’s good to come back and get wins after a couple tough games.”

After a scoreless first period, the Wildcats struck for a pair of goals 44 seconds apart early in the second to take a 2-0 lead.

Downing and Knodel did the honors that prompted a Northeastern time out 4:45 into the second period.

Seconds later on the ensuing shift Goumas nearly made it 3-0 but hit the pipe on an odd-man rush.

Otherwise, the Huskies responded well to the strategy, making it 2-1 less than three minutes later.

With Rawlings out of position, Downing scored on a backhander into a virtual empty net at 4:01 of the second period after taking a backhand centering pass from Dan Correale. Austin Block also assisted.

Knodel made it 2-0 at 4:45 with a quick wrist shot from the high slot, set up by Goumas.

The sudden deficit seemed to ignite the Huskies, who made it 2-1 on a goal by Vinny Saponari at 7:25 of the second.

Rawlings kept it that way at the 8:10 mark when he robbed Block on a breakaway with a glove save.

Northeastern outshot UNH during the first two periods, 33-21, including 17-10 in the second.

The Wildcats capitalized on the game’s first power play on a one-timer by John Henrion from the left circle less than two minutes into the third period. Henrion converted a Goumas pass from the right circle to make it 3-1 at 1:46 of the third.

“We wanted to finish out the game strong,” Henrion said. “Stay on the attack and play defense correctly, and I think we executed what we wanted to do tonight.”

UNH scored with seven seconds remaining on a penalty to Saponari, who was called for hooking with 8.2 seconds to go in the second period.

Trying to protect their two-goal lead, the Wildcats were living dangerously when Dalton Speelman (slashing) and Correale (tripping) took back-to-back penalties.

But the top penalty-killing unit in the country managed to dodge both situations with its lead intact.

The Wildcats also played the final 1:37 shorthanded which amounted to a two-man advantage for the Huskies after they pulled Rawlings for an extra skater with more than two minutes left in the third.

“The penalty kill came up huge,” Umile said. “We didn’t get any until the third period. We were making it difficult on ourselves. … I thought the guys managed the four-on-six pretty well.”